


Hostage (One Shot)

by PuddlesofPupcake



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Internalized Biphobia, Internalized Homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-18
Updated: 2015-08-18
Packaged: 2018-04-15 10:01:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4602540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PuddlesofPupcake/pseuds/PuddlesofPupcake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peggy finds work life and personal life colliding painfully when there is a kidnapping at the Automat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hostage (One Shot)

**Author's Note:**

> I promise I'll write something cheerful one day

The vague promise of sleep in the distant future was probably the only thing managing to keep Peggy from taking a nice long nap right at her desk. Even the coffee from the S.S.R break room, a barely brown sludge that probably contained things that nobody wanted to even consider, wasn't doing anything significant to stop her eyelids from drooping slightly.IT was approaching midnight, way past her usual work hours or indeed life hours. Her army routine had proved incredibly difficult to fully shake so she was always asleep early enough to be fully awake at the crack of dawn.But lately she seemed to be working every hour of the day, taking every spare shift she could lay her hands on. She'd gotten to the point where she was working for nothing after she maxed out on overtime pay last week. But it was okay,it was okay as long as this work was keeping her out of the huge house. Who could bear returning to such an empty house every day? 

When Peggy and Angie first moved into the mansion that Howard Stark had insisted on giving them, the massive space amazed them. They would act like absolute children, chasing each other around the house and playing hide and seek in the never ending rooms. Once they'd discovered that many of the rooms housed a telephone, they would call each other from opposite ends of their home simply because they could. Now Peggy lived there alone it just felt like she was a tiny doll rattling around an enormous doll's house, hoping she could find a room to sit in that didn't make her feel sick to her stomach from loneliness. 

It was pretty hard to pinpoint the exact moment when Peggy noticed the cracks in her friendship with Angie. It crept up on them really, slowly their patience with each other thinned out and the littlest of disagreements were turning into all out war. The arguments were nothing like Peggy had ever dealt with, she was so used to managing to keep her head during situations she didn't like but with Angie her emotions were out of control. She didn't have to leave though. 

"Carter! How many times do I have to ask you? Bring us some coffee into the meeting room!" 

Peggy's thoughts slipped away from her as Krzeminski's voice barked out from the door behind her. You'd think somewhere in the overtime she would've managed to pick up some tasks relevant to an actual agent but of course not. Even her ignorant male coworkers had noticed the amount of hours she'd been putting in lately but, as much as Peggy had stupidly let herself hope, it had earned her zero respect and turned her into even more of a joke to them. With a sharp roll of the eyes she grabbed the coffee pot from the kitchen and carried on a tray into the middle of Thompson's briefing. 

"...shooting at the L&L Automat." Peggy's breath leapt away from her as she fixed the drinks for the men, like a knife had been stuck in her chest. She knew who worked the Wednesday night shift. 

"They've taken a hostage, which is where we come in. A note left behind by the kidnappers say we've got eight hours to find the girl, who we've been told is an Angela Martinelli."

The glass coffee pot slipped through Peggy's hands and shattered on the floor, not that she noticed as she tried to find her breath. 

"Jesus Carter, what the hell is wrong with you?" shouted a voice, Peggy didn't care enough to think about which guy it belonged to. 

"Angie...Angela. She's a f-friend... a good friend." Peggy managed to force out, sinking into a vacant seat. 

Even Thompson seemed to gather a shred of humanity in his reaction, "You gonna be alright, Carter?" 

Peggy found herself nodding as much as she was internally screaming. "I want to help." 

Thompson nodded and continued his briefing. 

Unlike deciding the point where their friendship fell apart, it was clear in Peggy's mind the exact moment that Angie started to mean a lot more to her than any other roommate. It was February, not too long after she'd finally managed to clear Howard's name, and a shady looking guy slid into her booth at the Automat. After she'd removed him from the choke hold she'd instinctively held him in, he explained that he too had been wrongfully accused and needed her help to track down his accuser. It wasn't going to be easy, he warned, which is why he asked her as he'd heard she would throw herself into insane situations and still come out fighting. His impression of her was exactly correct, she was ready to jump head first into this battle until Angie walked out from the kitchen carrying a tray of drinks. As she set it onto the table, she flashed her first a smile then a look of confusion. She had to refuse. Bringing danger on herself was one thing, but to deliberately put Angie too in harm's way? Never. 

Putting another before yourself. As a kid that's what she'd been told love was. Not that she considered this silly crush, such a cringy word, love of course. It happens, friends getting too close and emotions getting muddled. She'd get over it, she always did. Peggy was initially adamant that the way she felt about Angie was just a case of close friendship, determined she was not the kind of woman who fell for other women. It would disappear, it had to.As the days after this realisation turned into weeks, Peggy felt herself shoving down any suggestion of interest in Angie. This time was filled with a lot of thoughts of Steve. She had loved him, really truly fallen for him.Surely that meant there was no way she could be feeling this way about a girl? That's not how the world worked as far as she could see. The signs were the same, she could admit. Fluttering heart and wandering thoughts were going to drive her insane. 

Even Angie had noticed there was something bugging her roommate. Peggy repeatedly assured her it was just the stress of her workload at the telephone company, a secret she had still somehow managed to cling onto . At least she had finally managed to accept the way she felt, denying emotions mixed with forcing herself to think about Steve constantly was dragging her into a deep depression. She would still never admit this to Angie of course. She'd hate her. She would've left her even sooner. 

Peggy's mind kept slipping into thoughts of Angie as she sat staring at the clock's hands as they moved agonisingly quickly. The note had said eight hours, they'd already burned through six investigating the scene, interviewing any possible witnesses, checking any empty warehouses and doing background checks on every suspicious customer people had seen. They were now waiting, helpless, as an expert examined the note to try and find a fingerprint. 

Sousa came over to Peggy's desk and leant against it. "You okay,Carter?" 

Peggy quickly sat up and brushed away tears she hadn't known were there, "I'll be alright thank you, I just can't help thinking of her locked up somewhere. Tied up maybe. She's always been claustrophobic. That'd be her worst nightmare." 

A low chuckle sounded behind them. "Tied up, ey Carter?" Krzeminski said with a smirk. "Ain't some of you broads up for that anyway?" 

Sousa threw him a glance that should've cut him straight down, throwing in a few choice words for good measure. He went to stand up but Peggy beat him to it, pressing a stray blue ballpoint pen to his neck. 

"Talk about Angie like that one more time," she whispered, voice low and dangerous, "And this pen is going to have red ink." 

"I've found a match!" yelled a scrawny middle aged man with glasses, giving Krzeminski chance to quickly move along "Does Lucas Carizoli mean anything to anyone?" 

All the eyes on the room fell to Peggy as she mentally processed the name in the hope that she could place it in Angie's life. The other's didn't know it had been a month since she'd last seen Angie so she prayed that it was relevant to the time before she left. 

"Isabelle Carizoli!" she heard herself exclaim, unaware she was saying it out loud. "Angie said she'd threatened her after she beat her for a part two months ago. The family own a farm a little way out of the city." 

Sousa stood up and grabbed his coat,throwing Thompson and Peggy theirs as well. "I know where that is. Thompson, you driving?" 

The three of them hurried out of the building and onto the mostly deserted street. Light had broken out over New York City but Peggy wasn't about to stop and admire the view. Time was running out. 

The car ride seemed endless, there was barely any traffic but the world still appeared to be travelling in slow motion. Peggy knew they had to get there quickly, they were only sort of near the outskirts of the city with less than an hour to go before Angie lost her chance. Peggy couldn't bear to imagine what could be happening to her right now. Scared. Confused. Alone. She'd only really seen Angie hurt once, a black eye standing out clear on her flawless complexion. Angie had failed to convince her that it had been an accident during rehearsal for a show, she really couldn't lie well. Peggy never told her that she'd worked out the truth, all Angie knew was that the next day the short tempered director had been replaced without warning by a much kinder one. It killed Peggy that she might not be able to protect Angie this time. 

What seemed like an eternity later, the car silently pulled up outside an old farm. The barn looked to have waited years since it's last repair but Peggy could detect movement inside of it. That had to be the place. The three agents quickly checked their weapons to ensure they were properly loaded before heading in. They ran towards the building,concealed in the shadows. Peggy couldn't help cursing the fact that she had decided to wear heels to work. 

"1...2...3" Thompson whispered, before kicking open the barn door. 

Once inside, the agents were leapt at by a group of men. There might have been six or perhaps seven, they were definitely outnumbered. It seemed hopeless, certain they couldn't beat a gang double their size. And for a while it looked like that was true, Peggy,Thompson and Sousa were taking more blows than they threw until eventually five of the kidnappers were lying on the floor. A few more took off out the door. Peggy nodded towards her colleagues, the two men following the villains as closely as they could.  
Now the room had cleared of movement, Peggy could see Angie tied to a chair struggling and squirming against the ropes and a gag. Peggy rushed over to her, ripping away the filthy cloth and letting her catch her breath whilst she began working on the tight knots that secured her to her chair. 

"Peggy," she said, gasping a little as she spoke. "What the hell are you doing here?" 

Peggy suddenly remembered that Angie didn't know about her secret life. Well, she was going to find out one day anyway. Peggy finally managed to get through the notes and let the loose rope fall in a pile and helped Angie to her feet. 

"I'll explain later." Peggy replied. Looking at Angie brought tears to her eyes. She was coated in a thin layer of dirt from the barn although it did little to conceal the damage. Purplish bruises were scattered across her face and arms, some had obviously been delivered earlier in the night than others. The bruises were accompanied by a range of cuts and scrapes, some worse than others. Blood also oozed from her nose, one of her eyes swollen almost to shutting. It could've been from a horror movie. Peggy hadn't even noticed her own split lip. 

She was still her beautiful Angie though, her good eye still sparkled sky blue and she still tried to force a smile despite obvious pain. Hands still gently holding her at the waist to support her, Peggy pressed a soft kiss to her lips without even thinking. Not even a second later she caught herself, pulling back so sharply Angie nearly fell. 

"I'm so sorry." Peggy whispered barely audibly, certain she'd just ruined any possible chance of seeing Angie ever again. 

Her worries dissolved as Angie brushed away the hair that had fallen over Peggy's face, capturing her in another kiss that said everything. The dirt,the sweat,the tears,the blood didn't matter. Months of apologies were communicated to each other, their past effectively put behind them. 

"Angie?" Peggy said, hating to break apart. "Please come home."


End file.
